Trolley-switch for station-indicators and the like.



0. B. KELLUM. I TROLLEY SWITCH FOE STATION INDICATORS AND THE LIKE.APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 1910.

999,312, I Patented Aug. 1,1911.

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.Zifzasses I fl cvnfar' swim s1 ORLANDO E. KELLUM, OF LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL STREET AND STATION INDICATOR COMPANY,OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORA- TION OF CALIFORNIA.

TROLLEY-SWITCI-I FOB STATION-INDICATORS AND THE LIKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORLANDO E. KELLUM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Switches for Station-Indicators and the Like, of which the following isa specification.

Among the prime objects of this invention are these; to provide anarrangement which, when the contact is made, does not tend to throw thetrolley wheel off the trolley wire, and to provide the mechanism in suchshape as to protect it from injury when the trolley leaves the wire.

In most of the devices of which I am now aware the contacts are soarranged that there is always a tendency to push the trolley off thewire, and at high speed this tendency is often considerable. I havereversed the arrangement and have placed the stationary contact member,which is suspended from the trolley wire so that the moving contactmember on the trolley pole will push down on the stationary contactmember, the moving contact member and the trolley being pushed up towardthe wire. In this manner all tendency for the trolley to leave the wireis completely obviated. The moving contact has its engaging surface onits under side and is protected above by a sloping in sulating piecewhich prevents the contact plate from coming into engagement with thetrolley or cross wires should the trolley leave the wire. Also thissloping protective piece enables the trolley contact member to slip bythe wire without being injured.

From the foregoing broad description it will be seen that my inventionconsists primarily in the reversal of the ordinary position of the twocontacts, this reversal allowing the protection of the trolley contactfrom injury by the trolley wire or cross wires and preventing anundesired electrical connection with the trolley wire, and alsoproviding means for holding the trolley in engagement with the wirerather than tending to push it off the wire at each contact.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred form of myinvention, in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevationof the same.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 23, 1910.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

Serial No. 593,832.

In the drawings 5 designates a trolley wire supported by a member 6 froman insulator 7 Member 6 affords convenient means for attaching thestationary contact members 8 of my device, these members being formedpreferably of wire and being secured to member 6 in any desired manner.Members 8 project outwardly and downwardly from the trolley wire, as at9 and then project inwardly at 10 and have an upwardly curved member 11on their inner ends, this curved, member affording the contact surface.I preferably employ two stationary contacts as the operation is thusequalized and there is no tendency to twist the contact members on therolley wire, but it is not absolutely necessary that two be employed.

Trolley wheel 12 engages with wire 5 in the usual manner, harp 13supporting the trolley wheel from trolley pole 14:. Mounted on trolleypole 14: is a bracket 15 which extends rearwardly and upwardly to apoint behind the wheel. At its upper end the bracket is squared as at 16and a contact plate 17 fits over the squared portion, being insulatedtherefrom by sleeve 18, and adapted to preferably slide vertically onthe squared portion. Above the contact plate an insulating protectivemember 19 is placed, this member being provided with a curved slopingupper surface 20 and having a projection 21 which extends into thegroove of the trolley wheel. By means of the curved upper surface andthe sloping upper surface of the extension it is provided that theinsulating protective piece will slide by any wire or bracket with whichit may come into contact when the trolley leaves the wire.

Contact plate 17 is so mounted that its lower surface will engage withthe upper surfaces of curved members 11, the curved members eitherspringing down or the contact plate 17 rising against the action of aspring 22 placed around the upper end of bracket 15 and underneath a nut23. This spring will allow the contact plate to move upwardly when it isforced by curved members 11, but it is not absolutely essential thatthis provision be made, there being suflicient resiliency in thestationary contact members and in bracket 15 to allow the two contactsto engage and slip over each other without a large amount of friction.

Contact plate 17 is insulated from all the metallic parts of thetrolley, a wire 25 leading from the contact plate down the trolley poleand being connected wherever desired. Being insulated in this manner, itwill be seen that an accidental contact of the trolley pole or any ofthe metallic parts of the trolley with the trolley wire will not cause aclosure of the circuit leading to wire 25.

' As shown in Fig. 2, one of contacts 8 may be insulated by means ofsleeve 8 and only one half of plate 17 may be connected to wire 25. Bythis arrangement, a circuit will only be established when the parts arein the relative positions shown. If the trolley be reversed, there will.be no circuit established. In this manner, on a single track, thecontacts may be arranged so that certain ones make a circuit closurewith cars passing in one direction, while others do the same for theopposite direction. This is desirable for many reasons, chief amongwhich is the fact that a station indicator is preferably operated justafter passing a station in either direction.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a trolley wire and a member engaging therewithfor longitudinal movement thereon, and a support for said member, acontact member suspended from the wire and having an upwardly facingcontact surface thereon, and a contact member mounted on said supportand adapted to pass over and engage with the contact surface on thefirst mentioned contact member.

2. In combination with a trolley wire, a trolley wheel engagingtherewith for longitudinal movement thereon, and a member supporting thewheel, a contact member suspended from the trolley wire and extendingoutwardly and downwardly from the wire and then inwardly, and having anupwardly facing contact surface, and a contact member mounted on thewheel supporting member and adapted to ride over the contact surface ofthe first mentioned contact member.

In combination with a trolley wire, a trolley wheel engaging therewithfor longitudinal movement thereon, and a member supporting the wheel, apair of contact members suspended from the trolley wire one on each sidethereof and. each extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom and theninwardly, and having an upwardly facing contact surface on its inwardextension, and a contact member mounted on the wheel supporting memberand adapted to ride over the contact surfaces on the inward extensionsof the first mentioned contact members.

4. In combination with a trolley wire, a trolley wheel engagingtherewith for. longitudinal movement thereon, and a member supportingthe wheel, a contact member suspended from the trolley wire andextending outwardly and downwardly from the wire and then inwardly, anda contact member mounted on the wheel supporting member and adapted toride over the inward extension of the first mentioned contact member,the second mentioned contact member comprising a lower conduct-ing pieceand an upper protective insulating piece.

5. In combination with a trolley wire, a trolley wheel engagingtherewith for longitudinal movement thereon, and a wheel support-ingmember, a pair of contact members suspended from the trolley wire one oneach side thereof: and extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom andthen inwardly, and a contact member mounted on the wheel supportingmember and adapted to ride over the inward extensions of the firstmentioned contact members, the second mentioned contact membercomprising a lower conducting piece and an upper protective insulatingdevice.

6. In combination with a trolley wire and a trolley pole and a wheel.carried thereby and engaging with the wire for longitudinal movementthereon, a pair of contact members suspended from the wire on oppositesides and extending oppositely outwardly and downwardly and theninwardly and having on their inward extensions upwardly facing surfacescurved in a plane parallel to that of the trolley wire, a supportingmember on the trolley pole, and a contact member mounted on the support,said member comprising a lower conducting piece adapted to ride over andengage with the curved surface of the first mentioned contact members,and an upper protective insulating piece extending over the conductingpiece and extending into proximity with the trolley wheel.

7. In combination with a trolley wire, a member engaging therewith forlongitudinal movement thereon, and a support for said member, astationary contact member projecting to a position adjacent and'belowthe wire, and having an upwardly facing contact thereon, and a contactmember mounted on said support and adapted to pass over and engage withthe contact surface on the first mentioned contact member.

In-witness that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto subscribed myname this 17th day of November 1910.

ORLANDO E. KELLUM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

